The Witches or Weird Sisters play a major role in the brilliant tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare. The role of the Weird Sisters represents that equivocal evil in the nature of things which helps to deceive the human will. They are not mere witches although they have some of the powers of witches. Even though they were produced by nature, they share with angels a freedom from limitation of space and time, a power to perceive the causes of things, and to see some distance into human minds (Kermode 1309). The Witches have malicious intentions and prophetic powers that entice Macbeth and captivate his mind. Although they have no power to compel Macbeth, the Witches appeal to Macbeth’s desires, eventually leading him to his tragic end.
The most obvious interpretation of the Witches is to see them as manifestations of evil in the world. They exist to tempt and torment people, to challenge their faith in themselves and their society. The Weird Sisters work on Macbeth by equivocation, that is, by ambiguous promises of some future state. These promises come true, but not in the way that the victim originally believed. The Witches have no power to compel belief, but they can obviously appeal strongly to an already existing inclination to force a person’s will onto events to shape the future to fit deepest desires (Corson 224-229).
At the beginning of Macbeth, there is no interpretation of the meaning of the storm. Dimly the audience is aware of the ongoing war, but Hecate creates an infernal trinity. Lightning, thunder, and rain all whirl into existence the three hideous curses upon humanity, the three Weird Sisters (Walker 146).
1Witch: “When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
2Witch: When the hurly-burly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.
3Witch: That will be ere the set of sun.
1Witch: Where the place?
2Witch: Upon the heath.
3Witch: There to meet with Macbeth.
1Witch: I come, Graymalkin
2Witch: Paddock calls
3Witch: Anon!
All: Fair is foul, and foul is fair.”
Hover through the fog and filthy air.”(I.i.1-10).
These creepers of darkness that guide the Witches invoke the evil that eventually destroys Macbeth. Graymalkin, the night-se...
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...er come. “That will never be,”(IV.i.93), he replies, as the Witches listen and laugh in silence knowing they have defeated Macbeth by encouraging equivocations.
The Witches are gleeful over their victim whose eyeballs have been seared by what has been shown to him. The First Witch says:
“Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprites,/And show the best of our delights:/ I’ll charm the air to give a sound,/While you perform your antic round,/That this great king may kindly say/Our duties did his welcome pay.”(IV.i.125-130).
This expresses implicitly all that has been set forth in regard to the relations of the Witches to Macbeth. He is the first to welcome them as guest to his bosom, and they do their duty by him as agents of the devil (Corson 242).
Although the witches have no power to compel Macbeth, they appealed to what he has previously desired, eventually leading him to his tragic end. They have originated nothing within him. They have but harped upon what was already evil and stimulated these thoughts into acts (Corson 242). In his last scene, the Witches urge him on by more flattering equivocations, each turning false, luring Macbeth to an evil end.
The witches in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth serve to drive the story, advance tension, reveal weakness, and give the audience a hint of the things to come but they do not control Macbeth or anyone else in the play. The only power they have is the ability to reinforce ideas that have already been set in Macbeth’s head. Macbeth is the master of his own fate and he controls his own life. Many temptations are laid out before Macbeth. The way in which he deals with these temptations depends on his own moral strength.
“The weird sisters are a "supernatural soliciting" that act like a catalyst. They do not plant in Macbeth a desire for the crown. (1)” This statement, while credible and true, holds flaws in the statement of the witches role and purpose at setting the tone and course of the story. The three witches also known as “the weird sisters”, in an act of manipulation, bestow upon Macbeth a prophecy, which gives Macbeth the hope that he could receive power and eventually rule. With this abuse of power the witches create a chain of events for their own amusement which sets a course of travesty for the tragic hero Macbeth. The witches were not only a catalyst, also the planters of the seed that caused Macbeth’s desire for the crown, without the witches Macbeth would have never taken the initiative to gain the throne and he would have remained Thane of Cawdor and Thane of Glamis. Luisa Murano justifies this speculation in her statement, “Macbeth, returning victorious from the battlefield where he has risked his life for his king, encounters three witches who inspire in him the idea of taking over the king 's place.(2)” In fact, no inclination is given of Macbeth’s thoughts or intentions of ever overthrowing Duncan until the witches’ prophecy is read. In regards to the statement about the witches being a catalyst that is true in the context of the play. Throughout the play
The witches also kept repeating a quote that has a lot of meaning. They continued to say “foul is fair and fair is foul.” (I.i.12) This means that what seems right isn’t really right and what seems wrong isn’t really wrong. So the whole play is about false faces and how someone who seems normal and innocent isn’t really. The witches also seem to be an illusion. They are in a way human like, but at the same time they are also fake. They talked to Macbeth and told him three prophecies, which caused him to become greedy and kill King Duncan. The first time they told him what they saw was in Act 1. They said
The three witches in Macbeth are not the most powerful characters in the play, nor are they the catalyst to all of Macbeth’s crimes. At a first glance, it seems that the witches were the advocators to Macbeth’s actions. However, after another look at the situation, it isn’t hard to see that the witches only pulled out Macbeth’s dark side that was hiding just below the surface, and let him destroy himself. They only
The three witches use cleverly chosen words and prophecies to exert control over others. These prophecies seem to be more potent than any action, as they can be interpreted in any number of ways, and have the ability to provoke otherwise hidden thoughts and desires. For instance, upon hearing the first prophecies and seeing the first part come true, Macbeth says, “This supernatural soliciting, cannot be ill, cannot be good … If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs.” This shows the power of the witches, and indeed the supernatural in general. The prophecies, of which Macbeth is convinced are true, have provoked thoughts and ideas, both good and evil.
As stated by Frank Kermode in the book Shakespeare for Students, ?Macbeth is a play about the eclipse of civility and manhood, the temporary triumph of evil, when it ends, virtue, and justice are restored.? ?Shakespeare displays a remarkable perception of the human condition by dramatizing not only the way in which evil enters Macbeth?s world, but also the devastating effect it has on those who yield to temptation and sin? (Shakespeare for Students page 238.) Macbeth is merely a victim of his fate. In this case, the weird sisters represent the wrath and cunningness of the various ways fate can play out. Fate has so much power that it can take over a person and leave them feeling almost possessed. If Macbeth were immortal and could understand his fate, he might have saved himself, but because he is mortal he is tricked, and subsequently, destroyed by fate.
The witches have a strong effect on Macbeth's character; they highly influence him in his accomplishments and awake his ambitions. They give Macbeth a false sense of security with their apparitions of truth. Instead, they prove to be harmful for Macbeth, who takes too much comfort and confidence in his interpretation of the truths. They are the ones who plant the actual idea of killing Duncan into Macbeth's mind. But if it were only the witches prophecies, then Macbeth surely would not have murdered the king. '
From the very beginning of the play the witches are planning to give Macbeth the news of his future and so lead to his downfall. They speak to each other about their next action, to meet with Macbeth. The setting in which Shakespeare first presents the witches is On the Moor with thunder and lightening in the background. It is unusual the way the three witches meet in a storm. This atmosphere implies that the witches are frightening and its very location ‘On the Moor’ a remote and isolated waste land area, gives a scary feeling.
Although the witches seem to be the ones who most influence Macbeth, the real perpetrator
In Macbeth the Witches are shown as being evil, conniving, and cruel. "Here I have a pilot’s thumb, wreck’d, as homeward he did come." The Witches play a major role in convincing Macbeth to kill Duncan. They give Macbeth and Bonquo three prophecies: "all hail Macbeth hail to thee, thane of Cawdor" "all hail, Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter" "thou shalt get kings, though be none." Bonquo doesn’t take these prophecies seriously, but Macbeth shows some ambition for power. "If chance will have me king, why, chance will crown me." Macbeth becomes more dependent to the Witches. In Act 4 scene 1 Macbeth returns to the weird sisters, demanding what the future would bring. The Witches gave him three prophecies: "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff, beware the thane of Fife." "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" "Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill."
showing that through the witches temptation not only is Macbeth destroyed the Kingdom is as well. They are part of the 'larger organism'. The witches also give misleading advice throughout the tragedy. This advice causes him to become scared and makes him feel as if he needs to kill more people to protect himself. This false sense of fate and power on his part is a major factor in his downfall. So, the witches influence Macbeth by causing his ascension, his madness, and his demise. They cannot thus compel his will to evil; but they do arouse his passions and stir up a vehement and inordinate apprehension of the imagination, which so perverts the judgment of reason that it leads his will toward choosing means to the desired temporal good.)
The Witches and & nbsp; Evil in Macbeth & nbsp; No discussion of evil in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth would be satisfactory without considering its’ most famous symbol of evil: the coven of witches whose interactions with Macbeth play such a vital role in his thinking about his own life. Banquo and Macbeth recognize them as something supernatural, part of the landscape but not fully human inhabitants of it. They have malicious intentions and prophetic powers. And yet they are not active agents in the sense that they do nothing other than talk and offer visions and potions. The witches have no power to compel.
The witches influence Macbeth in his achievements and awaken his ambitions. They give him a false sense of security with their apportions of truths. The witches are the ones who made the idea of killing Duncan into Macbeth’s mind. They also told him that he would become thane of Cawdor and later would become king of Scotland. Macbeth wants to know more.
This again shows how eager Macbeth is despite how sinastrous these three witches are. This quote can also show the readers that if the witches had not told them the prophecy...
The witches’ prophecies tempt Macbeth to begin walking down the path of evil leading to his demise. They are the catalyst that